Question Of The Day #3

What was your Dad’s (or father figure's, or adult male role model's) go-to dish? Do you still make it or do you never want to eat it again? If you still make it, do you keep it unchanged or have you adapted it?

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michaelnatkin

My Dad specialized in the fried eggs. I always loved how he would get crispy edges on the whites, even though it makes the rest of the whites tough. And for some reason he would occasionally slice some potatoes and fry some potato chips, which we all thought was incredibly impressive since as far as we knew, potato chips came in bags (or cans - anyone remember Charlie's Chips?). Not sure where he got that since he's generally not into cooking, maybe it was something his *Dad* did.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Didn't know my dad growing up, but had three awesome father figures in my maternal grandfather ('Pappy') and two uncles, one of which was an avid hunter, the other served 20+ years in the Marine Corps.

Pappy was fond of putting sugar in savory preparations. He made what he just called 'tips', which was beef stew meat, marinated in a lot of Worcestershire sauce and other things, mixed with sugar. Then that would get sauteed up (I seem to remember he liked using lard for this....) until the meat was, in hindsight, badly overcooked. But the sugar and tang from the marinade made it addictive to eat.

He would also par-boil potatoes, give them a light smash, toss with some sugar, and then finish them on the stove top. The sugar would brown and crisp up, and I remember it being one of my favorite things to eat.

michaelnatkin

I wonder if there is any chance that his 'tips' was somehow related to the Ethiopian family of stews called 'tibs' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_cuisine#Tibs ? That's interesting that his consistent thing was sugar in savory dishes.

Christos_Andrews_112243

My dad is greek, and has a passion for food and cooking (though he doesn't do it professionally), and tends to add a greek/Mediterranean influence on his food. He still makes the best lamb I've had to this day. He's got it dialed in, always perfectly red and moist in the center, caramelized on the outside, and tons of roasted garlic (fingerling potatoes tend to be the usual compliment). I've never attempted to make it, but I should.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Should also add that the hunter uncle was responsible for my first exposure to venison, and the film 'Alien'. So there's that.

michaelnatkin

You should do it and put it in the community gallery!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

I think I'd say pytti-panna (Swedish hash, which my family loves as well), both my parents cook and are pretty darn good at it, I'd say dad cooks more and when we got him a sous vide rig he's been doing even more stuff.

Jack_Mayer_85396

SOS (creamed hamburger on toast) with tons of pepper on Saturday mornings.

Manfred_18311

I wouldn’t know where to start or end on it. My father hunted & fished all his live long, both activity’s you have to take up study for a good amount of time to finally get a certified examination before receiving a license in Germany, especially the hunting license. He used to have a farmer raising a Pig for him once in a year and made some dam good sausage from it. The rolled pork belly, grilled on a vertical Grill of his design and building, was announced and renowned among friends and family. Needless to say he kept up with his vegetable garden until he passed. Unfortunately I was around the globe to much to secure the grill before my brother did, but I recently interviewed parts of my family trying to recollect some of his recipes for smoked Herring and Mettwurst. I certainly have inherent his discriminating desire for good food and quality products.

tshewman

Sunday breakfast was his meal. BBQ bacon, banana pancakes (have to be grade B syrup-more flavor), cinnamon rolls and heart stopping scrambled eggs. That said, his specialty was left overs. Mashed potatoes? well, lets make some potato balls, stuff them with cheese and garlic and bake them......to this day, the most unselfish in the kitchen. takes what people won't eat and makes something out of it. Left over tomato soup, but not much? make tomato cream french toast. What have I done with it? Left overs, try to be creative. Breakfast? Banana pudding and walnut pancakes dispenses with a whipping siphon. Chcolate-chocolate-chip pancakes (for my daughter). Eggs, add some veggies and mexican hot sauce, or a bit more cream and truffle oil. Black forest bacon....plain (or turned into ice cream for on top of the pancakes).

michaelnatkin

Oh man, I'm a leftover guy too.. I'm always making little fritters or rice bowls or something out of whatever's hanging out.

Matt_67991

My dad wasn't much of a cook, but he was French, and did do a nice table side caesar salad every now and then.

Anchal_Sharma_112668

My dad made an Indian dessert "Atta Halwa". Recipe something like: http://cooks.ndtv.com/recipe/show/atta-halwa-219754 ... I like to eat it even now but don't cook or get to eat it too often (maybe once in 6 months). Haven't changed the recipe either.

michaelnatkin

Anchal! Fun to see you on ChefSteps. I just brought some prepackaged banana halwa to ChefSteps the other day and I was trying to explain what defines a halwa, since it seems to cover kind of a wide range of sweet, dense things - including the sesame halvahs of the Middle East. How would you explain it? I always used to get gajar (carrot) halwa with pistachios at a restaurant in Providence... miss that. Does the atta halwa taste/eat about the same as sooji halwa?

Nick_14981

My dad is not a cook, but ugh... Tater tot hotdish... (Minnesota thing I gather) No we do not make it, I don't think I would eat it his way. I suppose I could deconstruct it, use better fresh ingredients and make it edible. Though the desire has never crossed my mind. IIRC ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, corn and tater tots on top, finished in the oven.

Emmett_Barton_12803

My dad is a prodigious home cook. He taught me everything from how to poach an egg in the microwave (lazy, but effective), how to hold a knife and cut things efficiently, mise en place, how to stir fry (improperly, I might add. I taught him the right way later), and he also made amazing stews and chilis. But, despite all that, I think the dish I remember him the most for is a simple dip made from a can of Rotel Tomatoes and a bar of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Just melt one into the other. Done. So delicious.

Jack_Mayer_85396

Rotel and velveeta is a staple here in Texas! There used to be a pretty good house band in Austin many years ago called "Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes"

Emmett_Barton_12803

Nice! I lived in Austin for a few years and saw lots of velveeta and rotel. Poor man's queso. You've got to try it with cream cheese.

Future_113129

Japanese beef curry. I've changed it. I use Beef Tenderloin, little beef stock, let it reduce longer, and Jasmine rice. Wicked proper now, with yellow dikon pickles.

Diego_Peguero_113146

Paella is my dads dish. And I will keep it the same way he teach me! Its the bestttttt

coryhansen78

Aebelskiver (his parents were Danish), pan-fried trout (that we caught) and fried eggs were the only things my father ever made. Extremely infrequently, however-- I think I can probably count on one hand the amount of times he cooked for us! All pretty good, though!

richard.fine

'Kitchen sink spaghetti bolognese' - there'd be fried onion, ground beef, and passata, but beyond that it was whatever he happened to grab - fresh veg we happened to have in the fridge, frozen stuff from the freezer, canned beans, and all seasoned with a variety of bottles of condiment.

It was delicious, but importantly, it taught me that cooking wasn't just about following recipes - that you could learn the basic 'form' of something like a ragù and then just improvise or play around on top of that.